Roadkill up 49%, even as traffic falls in COVID pandemic

Data from Lytx, a truck fleet safety company, shows the highest roadkill increases in states including South Carolina, Georgia and Florida

With less traffic on the road, the obvious association would be less roadkill. However, the data from Lytx, a truck fleet safety company, shows the highest roadkill increases in states including South Carolina, Georgia and Florida – where there are more roads going through rural areas. In total 2.3 million animals, tracking from deer, wild turkeys, coyotes and beyond were impacted by the change in the COVID-19 environment. Data from the Bureau of Transportation show decreases in trips of up to 30% during the pandemic.

The roadkill data comes from Lytx, a company that uses on-board cameras on trucks to monitor drivers safety. That data shows that animal fatalities increased between March and August even though COVID-19 fears were keeping more people at home. The problem is that as animals get more accustomed to being on the roads and venturing into ‘human’ territories, their fear of traffic decreases and fatalities increase, according to researchers.

As traffic patterns change with many schools starting back in-person and cities already having an uptick in volume, we will have data on the impact monthly.

The Lytx data pool is huge and ideal for tracking animal fatalities: Trucks outfitted with the Lytx technology track 1.3 million drivers every day and analyze 15 million driving events, such as animal strikes. Lytx provides video telematics, utilizing both AI and Machine Learning for fleets in commercial transportation, the public sector and field service.

Category: Featured, General Update, News, Safety